Valerie Kirk Geoscience Australia and Namadgi National Park Residency

Valerie Kirk and Harriet Schwarzrock in Geoscience Australia bulk storage, image @_5foot
 

 Fossil at Geoscience Australia, image  @_5foot

Rock Collection at Geoscience Australia, image  @_5foot

Valerie Kirk, drawing at Geoscience Australia,  image @_5foot

Valerie Kirk 

Craft ACT Residency at Geoscience Australia and Namadgi National Park.

Rocks, fossils, plants – understanding deep history and protecting land for the future.

The residency is a unique opportunity to research, understand and respond to climate change/environmental issues and contributing factors. It allows me to deeply engage with the Geoscience Australia collection and the physical environment of Namadgi National Park through my specific interests.

Rocks and plant fossils fascinate me because they evoke a deep sense of time, show changing climates and evolution of the surface of the Earth. They appear solid and mark endurance.

Australia’s botanical heritage, as witnessed in the fossil record, and contemporary diversity of plants gives me a connection to place and appreciation of each moment from seed, to flower then withering. The cycle continues for posterity.

My project  focuses on these elements and associated issues.

Part 1 of the residency – 9 days at Geoscience Australia, March 2021

Part 2 of the residency – 3 weeks at Namadgi National Park, April May 2021

@_5foot Photography 

Craft ACT